WASHINGTON — President Trump issued pardons Thursday to five former football stars — including Jets Hall of Famer Joe Klecko — who were convicted of federal drug crimes, perjury, and counterfeiting offenses.
"As football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again. So is our nation," White House pardon czarAlice Marie Johnson wrote on Xin announcing the clemencies.
Defensive tackle Klecko, 72, who spent 11 of his 12 pro seasons with the Jets, was pardoned for perjury in an insurance fraud case, for which he was sentenced to three months in prison in 1993.
Offensive guard Nate Newton, 64, best known for his 13 years with the Dallas Cowboys, received clemency for his drug trafficking conviction after he was busted with nearly 400 pounds of marijuana in two separate traffic stops in 2001.
Johnson said Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones "personally" shared the news with Newton, who won three Super Bowls with America's Team in the 1990s.
Another Super Bowl champion, former Baltimore Ravens running back Jamal Lewis, was pardoned after pleading guilty in 2004 to using a cell phone to facilitate a cocaine deal.
Travis Henry, 47, formerly of the Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans and Denver Broncos, was pardoned of his cocaine-trafficking conviction, while the late Billy Cannon — a Heisman Trophy winner at LSU who went on to play for the Houston Oilers, Oakland Raiders, and Kansas City Chiefs — received posthumous clemency after serving two-and-a-half years in jail for printing $6 million in phony $100 bills in the 1980s.
Johnson, who Trump freed from prison during his first term and then pardoned of drug charges at the recommendation of Kim Kardashian, thanked Trump for his "continued commitment to second chances."
Johnson is paid $145,000 as a White House employee to find Trump cases of apparent injustice — bypassing the historically slow pardon process through the Justice Department.
Trump last year installed hard-charging loyalist Ed Martin as his pardon attorney to supplement Johnson as he makes unconventional use of his clemency powers during his second term.
